Report: Floyd Jr to earn $15 million versus Marquez

MANILA, Philippines - Floyd Mayweather Jr. is reportedly getting $15 million for a fight that “stinks.”

And if accurate, it means that Mayweather, coming off a 17-month-old retirement, stands to get $3 million more than Manny Pacquiao in guaranteed purse for facing Juan Manuel Marquez.

Pacquiao, now the pound-for-pound champion, lofty title disputed by Mayweather even when he was in retirement, got $12 million for fighting Ricky Hatton last May 2 in Las Vegas.

The Filipino icon, however, stands to earn a few millions more once the giant pay-per-view sales in Britain, the United States and elsewhere pour in in a week or two.

FightHype reported yesterday that Mayweather, who earned $25 million against Oscar dela Hoya in 2007, would get $15 million for fighting Marquez on July 18 at the MGM Grand. (Related story on A-29)

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, laughed at the Mayweather-Marquez bout set at a catchweight of 144 pounds.

“The fight stinks. Two counter-punchers waiting for the other one to make the first move is boring and proves nothing,” Roach told The Grand Rapids Press.

“If Mayweather wanted to prove he was the best, all he had to do was wait one day and see who won Pacquiao-Hatton before signing to fight Marquez,” he said.

The Mayweather-Marquez fight was officially announced at the MGM Grand just hours before Pacquiao took on Hatton, and demolished the British brawler inside two rounds.

“So much for truth in advertising,” Roach said in a separate article that came out of boxingscene.com in reaction to the fight being dubbed “Number One, Numero Uno.”

“We all know who the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter is and his name is Manny Pacquiao. They can call Mayweather-Marquez ‘No. 1,’ but it smells like No. 2,” said Roach.

“You might as well rename him Fraud Mayweather Jr.,” he added of the ex-pound-for-pound champion.